Every year, tropical deforestation causes more greenhouse gas emissions than the global transport sector – more than the entire USA, more than China. Cattle ranching in Brazil is the biggest driver of deforestation in the world.
Our Slaughtering the Amazon report, published last week, demonstrates the direct link between shoes on sale in the UK and the carbon being needlessly belched into an already-overloaded atmosphere.
The report has already made a lot of noise in a marketplace where branding and image is everything. Shoe companies like Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Timberland and even Clarks are sourcing leather products from the companies responsible for driving deforestation.
You can help us lever pressure on ranching companies by telling big brand shoe companies, that if they want to retain the good name of their brands they should take a stand and stop doing business with the worst Brazilian suppliers immediately.
Original article http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/where-have-your-shoes-been-20090610
Climate call from Everest. June 2009
Famed Nepalese climber Apa Sherpa reached the summit of the planet’s highest mountain on 21 May and unfurled a WWF banner saying: "Stop Climate Change – Let the Himalayas Live!"
As part of the Climate for Life Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of climate change impacts in the Himalayas, the expedition reminds world leaders of their responsibility towards preserving the region as a global heritage.
And it calls on them to reach a global climate deal at Copenhagen this December.
Original article http://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?uNewsID=3057
Saving fish stocks. June 2009
One of the most unethical and uneconomic issues in our fishing industry is discards – unwanted fish dumped overboard. But it’s a problem that some forward-thinking fishermen are trying hard to resolve by using new types of ‘selective’ fishing nets.
WWF wants this sort of selective fishing gear to be compulsory in European fisheries, and along with M&S we’ve produced a new guide to the options available to the industry, including advances in trawl net technology.
Bottom trawling (dragging huge nets along the sea bed) can be particularly damaging for marine ecosystems – it creates more than 80% of the discards in our seas.
But there are low-cost solutions that can reduce discards and minimise impacts. For instance, the WWF guide shows that using selective gear has led to a 60% reduction in discards for some trawling fisheries in the south west.
Original article http://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?3064
New coal plants not needed to test carbon capture. June 2009
If the government gives the green light to big new coal-fired power stations like Kingsnorth in Kent or Tilbury in Essex – even if it’s in order to test small-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects – it would increase the country’s overall carbon emissions, rather than reducing them.
The power sector is currently responsible for more than 30% of the UK’s CO2 emissions, and around 70% of this comes from burning coal.
Original article http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/09/jun/new-coal-plants-not-needed-test-carbon-capture
Cash injection for the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. June 2009
Following the recent Budget announcement, an additional £35 million has been allocated to the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). This sees the current programme extended from its original end date 1 July 2009, until April 2011. This is in order to support technologies until the introduction of Feed-in Tariffs and the Renewable Heat Incentive.
The LCBP provides grants for installing renewable technologies to charitable organisations and public sector buildings. Grants of up to 50% of the total installation cost (up to a maximum of £200,000) can cover the installation of solar photovoltaics, solar thermal hot water, wind turbines, ground source heat pumps, automated wood pellet stoves and wood-fuelled boiler systems. The announcements now see that the upper limit for heat technologies has been raised to 300kW.
To get further information on the LCBP, please visit www.lowcarbonbuildingsphase2.org.uk.